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HOME  MARKETS  IN  NEW  MEXICO. 

THE  PARADISE  OF  THE  PRODUCER. 


fln  Address  iDelivef  ed  at  the  Tewitornal  Expo 
sition,  at  Albuquerque,  Sept.  16,  1890, 

-  BY— 

HON.  L.  BRADFORD  PRINCE. 


Published  by  the  Bureau  of  Immigration.] 

Seven  years  ago  it  was  my  privilege  to  address  an  audience  in 
this  place,  at  the  opening  of  the  territorial  fair  of  1883. 

I  then  drew  your  attention  to  the  manifold  resources  of  New 
Mexico,  so  varied  and  so  abundant  that  it  could  be  asserted  boldly 
that  no  other  portion  of  the  United  States  is  so  ricl^  endowed  by 
nature.  As  this  seems  such  strong  language  as  to  savor,  of  exag- 
geration, I  proceeded  somewhat  in  detail  to  make  a  comparison, 
in  order  to  show  that  the  picture  was  not  overdrawn.  I  showed 
that  the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi,  while  well  equipped  in 
most  localities  for  agricultural  and  horticultural  success  by  excel- 
lence of  soil  and  abundance  of  humidity,  yet  as  a  rule  were 
devoid  of  mineral  resources.  Along  the  Appalachian  range  there 
were  great  deposits  of  iron,  and  in  certain  sections  abundance  of 
coal,  but  of  the  precious  metals  the  amount  even  in  ISTorth  Caro- 
lina was  so  small  as  to  be  insignificant.  Michigan  contained 
magnificent  mines  of  copper,  but  had  no  other  mineral  wealth. 
Crossing  the  Father  of  Waters,  we  found  in  Missouri  great  masses 
of  lead  and  zinc,-  but  of  more  valuable  metals  she  had  none. 

Ioceeding  westward  to  the  Rocky   Mountain  region,   it  is  true 


that  Colorado,  by  her  early  development  excelled  us  in  mineral 
product,  but  when  we  turned  to  other  resourses,  she  had  nothing 
to  compare  with 'the  fertile  valleys  of  our  rivers;  and  in  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  field,  the  market  garden,  the  orchard  and  the  vine- 
yard, New  Mexico  was  immensely  superior.  The  gainsayer, 
baffled  thus  far  in  finding  a  land  so  favored  as  our  own,  might 
then  turn  to  California,  and  portraying  her  wonderful  advantages 
insist  that  at  least  that  state  was  superior.  And  at  first  sight  it 
would  almost  seem  as  if  this  were  true.  For  besides  her  marvel- 
ous record  as  the  laud  of  gold,  she  possessed  the  enormous  wheat 
fields  of  the  north  and  the  centre,  and  the  magnificent  fruit  and 
grape  regions  of  the  south.  But  in  these  latter  respects 

AYE    ARE    FULLY    HER    EQUAL, 

and  her  mineral  is  nearly  all  of  one  metal.  She  has  not  our  sil- 
ver, or  lead,  or  copper,  or  iron.  And  beyond  all  this,  the  pos- 
session in  vast  and  inexhaustible  quantities  of  that  great  essential 
article,  which  is  the  motive  power  to  set  in  operation  so  many 
branches  of  business — coal — gives  to  us  the  stamp  of  superiority 
that  can  not  fail  to  be  recognized. 

I  then  proceeded  to  enumerate  some  of  the  wonderful  resources 
and  opportunities  of  production,  existing  within  our  borders ;  for 
New  Mexico  is  so  large  in  extent,  that  few  even  of  our  own  people 
know  except  from  hearsay  how  much  of  latent  wealth  lies  await- 
ing development  within  our  borders.  There  are  the  great  pine 
forests,  from  which  in  a  single  county  over  50,000,000  feet  of 
lumber  are  even  now  being  produced  each  year.  There  are  the 
wonderful  wheat  lands  of  the  northern  valleys,  which  though 
used  uninterruptedly  for  over  a  hundred  years,  without  rotation, 
yet  produce  crops  unsurpassed  in  India  or  Russia  or  our  own 
northwest.  There  are  the  long  stretches  of  valleys  bordering  all 
of  the  great  rivers  and  their  tributaries,  which  rival  if  they  do 
not  excel  the  prairie  soil  of  Illinois  or  Kansas,  in  the  luxuriance 
of  their  fields  of  corn.  There  are  the  broad  acres  in  alfalfa  and 
other  grasses,  mere  samples  of  what  may  be  a  vastly  multiplied 
reality,  producing  by  their  successive  crops,  a  much  larger  weight 
of  hay  than  can  be  raised  on  the  same  area  in  any  of  the  most 
favored  grass  producing  states.  Our  oats  are  greatly  superior 
to  those  grown  elsewhere.  While  those  of  Kansas  average  but 
27  pounds  to  the  bushel  and  seldom  exceed  30  at  the  highest,  ours 


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with  their  plump  full  kernels  will  average  34  and  often  exceed 
40.  The  onions,  turnips  and  beets,  the  cabbages,  cauliflowers  and 
celery,  exhibited  in  this  hall,  both  in  size  and  quality  tell  their 
own  story  of  the  superior 

CHARACTER  OF  OUR  VEGETABLES, 

while  the  potato,  which  fails  to  grow  well  in  our  valleys,  is  pro- 
duced of  wonderful  excellence  on  the  mountain  sides  and  in  all 
the  higher  altitudes.  And  then  the  fruit,  what  shall  T  say  of 
that?  but  that  which  you  all  know,  that  this  seems  to  be  the  spot 
specially  adapted  by  the  hand  of  the  Creator  for  its  perfection. 
Whether  apples  or  pears;  peaches,  apricots  or  nectarines;  plums, 
cherries  or  quinces;  all  here  exhibit  their  finest  points  of  size, 
color  and  taste,  combining  the  weight  and  beauty  of  those  of 
California  with  the  richest  flavor  of  those  of  the  East. 

All  this  aside  from  the  gold  and  the  silver;  the  copper  and  the 
lead ;  the  mica  and  the  marble ;  the  iron  and  the  coal ;  aside  from 
the  cattle  that  cover  the  plains  and  the  sheep  which  roam  on  the 
hillsides. 

Why  do  I  recapitulate  all  these  things?  To  give  us  greater 
appreciation  of  our  future  greatness,  and  fuller  self-satisfaction 
and  self-confidence  now?  Far  from  it.  I  have  no  right  to  mis- 
use this  opportunity  of  addressing  so  representative  and  intelli- 
gent an  assembly  by  giving  you  merely  fair  words,  which  have 
no  value  and  lead  to  no  result. 

But  I  have  reminded  you  of  these  unequalled  advantages  which 
a  good  Providence  has  bestowed  upon  us,  in  order  to  show  the 
small  extent  to  which  we  are  using  them,  and  the  vast  field  for 
profitable  employment  which  their  proper  development  presents. 

The  plain  unvarnished  fact  is,  that  with  every  opportunity  of 
supplying  ourselves  with  all  the  staple  articles  and  of  exporting 
them  to  less  favored  states,  we  are  not  doing  so;  but  are  actually 
importing  them  in  vast  quantities  from  without. 

Let  us  look  at  the  facts. 

Our  wheat  lands  are  unsurpassed,  and  more  than  amply  sufficient 

FOR    ALL    OF    OlfR    HOME    DEMAND. 

Yet  during  the  last  year,  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  R.  R.  Co.,  alone 
brought  into  the  Territory  409  tons  of  wheat  and  8,897  tons  of 
flour.  The  A.  &  P.  R.  R.  added  379  tons  of  flour— making  9276 
tons.  This  does  not  include  that  brought  by  the  S.  P.  R.  R., 


from  California,  or  by  the  D.  &  R.  G.  R.  II.  and  Denver  &  Fort 
Worth  from  Colorado,  which  doubtless  would  bring  up  the  ag- 
gregate to  450  tons  of  wheat  and  10,OQQ  of  flour.  But  let  us 
simply  take  -the  figures  as  we  find  them.  The  flour  would  make 
371,040  sacks  of  50  t>s  each,  or  18,552,000  pounds.  This,  you 
fill  observe,  does  not  include  the  unground  wheat,  which  was 
818,009  pounds  more. 

Then  turn  to  corn,  which  is  the  most  natural  product  of  full 
three  quarters  of  the  Territory.  Here  it  was  found  growing  by 
Coronado  in  1541  in  such  abundance  that  the  historian  of  his 
expedition  tells  that  "the  harvest  of  one  year  is  sufficient  for 
seven.  When  they  begin  to  sow,  the  fields  are  still  covered  with 
the  corn  that  has  not  been  gathered."  And  here,  to-day,  it  is 
found  not  only  of  marvelous  height  in  the  well  watered  valleys,  but 
growing  in  many  sections  without  irrigation  at  all.  Yet  we 
imported  over  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  R.  R.  7,945  tons,  and  90  tons 
from  the  west  over  the  A.  &  P.  R.  R.,  making  8035  tons  of 
which  we  have  accurate  figures,  besides  what  came  in  on  the  three 
other  railroads  and  also  in  addition  to  143  tons  of  ground  meal. 
Here,  then,  are  over  16  million  pounds  of  corn  and  meal  brought 
into  New  Mexico,  which  no  doubt  would  exceed  20  millions  if 
we  had  the  full  figures. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  superior  character  of  our  oats,  which 
should  cause  them  to  be  raised  in  great  quantities  for  exportation  to 

LESS  FAVORED  LOCALITIES, 

but  on  the  contrary  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  railroad  carries  to  us,  instead 
of  from  us,  during  the  last  year,  not  less  than  3,487  tons. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  article  which  should  be  our  largest 
product.  I  refer  to  hay.  Four  crops  of  alfalfa  is  the  usual  yield 
in  our  valleys.  Its  long  roots  penetrating  the  soil  to  a  depth 
where  there  is  always  moisture,  and  its  permanence  when  once 
established,  peculiarly  adapt  it  to  our  conditions.  There  is  no 
limit  to  the  amount  which  can  be  raised.  Every  acre  of  land 
which  is  fairly  irrigated  will  produce  most  abundant  crops.  We 
ought  to  supply  a  great  section  of  country  outside  of  our  bounda- 
ries with  its  hay;  and  yet  last  year  we  actually  imported  over 
the  two  railroads  from  which  we  have  returns  7,904  tons  from  the 
east  and  241  from  the  west. 

These  articles  that  I  have  named  are  those  of  largest  general 


consumption  everywhere,  but  if  we  carry  on  the  investigation,  and 
look  at  those  which  may  be  considered  of  minor  importance,  we 
will  see  that  the  same  results  are  found — of  importations  when 
we  should  not  only  supply  ourselves  but  export  in  large  quantities. 

Everywhere  in  New  Mexico  where  industry  chooses  to  employ 
itself  in  the  raising  of  vegetables,  they  are  produced  in  great 
perfection. 

A  glance  at  the  Exhibition  hall  will  show  you  this.  The  sole 
exception  is  the  potato;  and  while  that  does  not  succeed  in  some 
localities,  it  is  more  than  ordinarily  productive  and  excellent  in 
others. 

Everyone  employed  in  the  cultivation  of  vegetables  h'nds  the 
business  most  profitable,  and  yet  the  Santa  Fe  line  alone  brought 
1,491  tons  of  vegetables  from  abroad  into  the  territory  last  year, 
for  consumption  here. 

Perhaps  the  most  startling  exhibit  is  that  regarding  fruit. 
New  Mexico  is  beyond  contradiction,  the 

BEST  SECTION    IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

we  might  almost  say  in  the  world,  for  both  orchards  and  vineyards. 
Whenever  we  send  our  fruit  to  markets  in  which  it  meets  that  of 
California  or  other  states,  it  is  greatly  preferred,  and  the  New  Mex- 
ico product,  of  identical  varieties,  brings  a  price  from  20  to  40  per 
cent  higher  than  that  received  by  its  rivals.  We  ought  to  export 
enough  fruit  to  pay  for  all  our  inports  of  every  kind,  and  yet  dur- 
ing the  last  year,  the  Santa  Fe  route  brought  into  the  territory 
408,000  pounds  of  green  fruit  and  675,000  pounds  of  canned 
goods.  This  came  from  the  eastward,  and  the  A.  &  P.  railroad 
more  than  doubled  the  importation  by  bringing  no  less  than  1,- 
354,000  pounds  of  fruit  in  various  forms  from  the  west.  Thus 
over  2,000,000  pounds  of  fruit  were  actually  brought  into  this  land 
of  the  peach,  the  apple  and  the  grape,  in  a  single  year.  Within  ten 
days  I  asked  the  news-boy  who  was  carrying  a  basket  of  juice- 
less  peaches  through  a  west  bound  train  not  far  from  this  very 
city,  where  they  were  raised,  and  he  said  "California."  "Where 
did  you  get  them?"  said  I.  "In  Kansas  City,"  he  answered,  A 
similar  inquiry  as  to  the  apples  which  soon  followed,  showed  that 
they  came  from  Missouri.  Think  of  it!  Right  here  in  the  Rio 
Grande  valley,  with  its  fruit  of  highest  flavor,  had  the  insipid 


6 

product  of  California  not  only  been  brought,  but  actually  once 
carried  past  your  doors  to  be  brought  back  again,  to  sell  to  the 
traveler  on  the  cars.  What  can  we  expect  the  stranger  to  think  of 
the  character  of  our  products,  when  he  finds  fruit  from  the  Pacific, 
which  has  journeyed  4,000  miles,  presented  for  his  purchase,  as  he 
passes  through  New  Mexico! 

You  live  here  in  a  city  of  great  enterprise,  surrounded  by  a 
valley  the  fertility  and  productiveness  of  which  are  proverbial, 
and  yet  here,  midway  between  Bernalillo  and  Pajarito,  both  of 
which  are 

NOTED  FOR  THEIR  APPLES, 

one  single  firm  imported  this  year  no  less  than  1,400  barrels  of 
apples  from  the  east,  and  your  Commercial  Club  reports  that  the 
total  amount  brought  into  your  city  from  beyond  the  territorial 
line,  was  2,500  barrels.  One  of  the  favorite  products  of 
the  valley,  is  beans,  and  yet  of  them  you  have  imported  160,000 
pounds.  In  a  land  of  cattle,  you  have  sent  money  abroad  for  280,- 
000  pounds  of  butter  and  40,000  pounds  of  cheese.  In  the  midst 
of  all  that  should  make  the  raising  of  fowls  easy  and  profitable, 
you  have  imported  54,000  pouuds  of  poultry  and  2,880,000  eggs. 
You  bought  this  last  year  1,500,000  pounds  of  potatoes,  which 
could  easily  have  been  raised  in  the  canons  and  on  the  foot  hills. 
At  every  annual  fair,  the  wonderful  exhibition  of  onions,  so  large, 
so  fair,  so  mild  in  flavor,  has  excited  admiration,  and  they  grow 
so  prolifically  here,  that  it  has  often  been  said  that  a  single  acre 
well  cultivated  would  support  the  owner;  yet  even  of  onions  you 
imported  60,000  pounds  from  abroad.  And  so  of  all  kinds  of 
vegetables,  which  you  should  be  supplying  to  Colorado  and  the 
north.  A  can  of  tomatoes  or  peaches  seems  a  small  thing,  but 
when  you  are  told  that  in  Albuquerque  you  imported  132,000 
cans  last  year,  you  can  imagine  how  many  canned  products  were 
consumed  in  the  whole  territory,  and  wonder  why  they  were  not 
raised  and  prepared  on  our  own  soil.  For  Albuquerque  is  no  ex- 
ception among  New  Mexico  towns.  At  Springer,  close  to  the 
wheat  lands  of  the  Maxwell  grant,  they  used  379,000  pouuds  of 
foreign  flour  and  900,000  pounds  of  corn;  at  Wagon  Mound,  near 
the  Mora  valley,  whose  wheat  fields  are  wonders  of  productiveness, 
the  leading  dealer  imported  286,000  pounds  of  Hour,  and  writes 
that  "almost  every  merchant  from  Las  Yegas  northerly  gets  his 


flour  and  grain  from  the  east,"  and  in  Las  Vegas,  the  "City  of  the 
Meadows,"  it  is  estimated  that  200  car  loads  of  flour,  100  of  corn 
and  75  of  vegetables  are  consumed  each  year. 
The  fact  is  that 

EVEKY  DAY  IN    THE    YEAR, 

trains  of  cars  roll  into  the  territory,  through  the  Raton  tunnel  and 
across  the  Colorado  of  the  west,  laden  with  the  products  of  other 
states,  which  we  are  to  consume  and  for  which  we  are  to  pay, 
while  every  one  of  them  could  be  produced  in  great  abundance 
and  of  better  quality  by  our  own  people.  The  sum  which  we 
annually  pay  for  simply  the  articles  which  I  have  enumerated 
during  these  remarks  amounts  to  over  $1,200,000. 

These  would  be  sad  articles,  if  caused  by  any  lack  of  capacity 
for  production  in  JSTew  Mexico;  as  it  is  they  are  simply  suggestive 
and  instructive  ones.  And  the  lesson  which  they  teach  is  a  double  one. 

Firstly,  they  should  bean  inspiration  and  incentive  to  our  own 
people  to  utilize  to  a  far  greater  extent  the  resources  and  advant- 
ages which  they  possess. 

And  secondly,  they  show  by  absolute  figures  that  can  not  lie, 
that  New  Mexico  presents  attractions  to  the  industrious  and 
energetic  immigrant  which  are  unknown  elsewhere. 

The  man  who  goes  to  Dakota  may  raise  an  abundance  of 
wheat,  but  there  is  no  local  demand  for  the  crop  when  matured, 
and  in  order  to  find  a  market  he  must  send  it  to  Chicago  or  some 
other  center  of  trade.  He  is  at  the  mercy  of  the  railroad?,  for  his 
product  has  to  bear  long  transportation,  before  it  reaches  any  con- 
sumer. The  value  of  that  product  oa  ths  ground  is  the  price  in 
Chicago,  less  the  freight  and  various  charges. 

The  raiser  of  corn  in  Kansas,  is  in  a  similar  plight. 

There  is  no  home  demand  for  his  product.  Every  one  has  the 
same,  and  all  have  a  surplus.  To  be  turned  into  money,  it  also  must 
go  to  a  more  eastern  market  and  be  governed  by  prices  there. 
He,  as  well  as  his  Dakota  brother,  is  at  the  mercy  of  those 
who  control  transportation,  and  the  value  of  his  corn  is  the  price 
in  the  eastern  market,  less  the  cost  of  transportation,  the  com- 
missions and  charges.  Many  a  time,  as  is  well  known,  corn  is  so 
cheap  and  coal  so  high,  that  its  most  profitable  use  is  to  be 
burned  as  fuel. 

In  New  Mexico  all  this  is  reversed. 


HEBE    IS    AN    ACTUAL    DEMAND 

for  nearly  20,000,000  pounds  of  flour,  which  must  be  filled  from 
somewhere,  and  nov7  is  supplied  from  abroad.  This  demand 
does  not  have  to  be  created,  nor  does  it  depend  on  the  crops  of 
Russia  or  India,  but  it  exists  right  here  in  New  Mexico.  The 
raiser  of  wheat  therefore  runs  no  risk.  He  is  sure  of  a  market. 
And  the  market  is  at  home.  There  is  no  long  transportation  in- 
volved, and  so  the  railroads  can  not  control  or  overcharge.  The 
price  is  the  price  in  Minnesota  or  Dakota,  plus  the  cost  of  freight 
from  there.  The  freight  alone  constitutes  an  ample  profit. 

And  so  of  corn.  The  market  is  already  here,  and  must  be 
supplied.  Over  8,000  tons  are  necessary  for  that  purpose, 
and  the  man  who  produces  up  to  that  amount  is  sure  of  a  sale 
close  to  his  farm,  and  at  the  prices  in  Missouri  or  Kansas  plus 
the  freight  and  charges  involved  in  bringing  it  from  there. 

These  are  but  examples.  The  same  general  facts  exist  as  to  the 
other  articles  that  have  been  mentioned.  In  every  case  there  is 
an  actual  home  market  existing  in  New  Mexico,  waiting  for  some 
one  to  supply  it  from  our  soil,  and  meanwhile  being  filled  from 
abroad.  All  of  the  products  named  are  among  those  most  suc- 
cessfully raised  in  the  territory,  and  the  only  reason  for  the  short- 
ness of  the  supply  is  that  no  one  is  taking  the  trouble  to  raise 
them  in  sufficient  quantity.  This  inadequacy  of  supply  is  in- 
creased in  New  Mexico  on  account  of  the  large  mining  industry, 
which  employes  great  numbers  of  men,  who  continually  consume 
all  kinds  of  food-products  while  producing  none. 

Through  most  of  the  agricultural  sections  of  the  United  States 
the  farmer  has  great  difficulty  in  finding  some  article  which  he 
can  raise  at  a  profit  and  with  which  the  market  is  not  already 
greatly  overstocked;  and  after  a  year  of  toil  is  liable  to  find  the 
general  supply  of  his  produce  so  great  and  the  price  consequently 
so  low,  that  he  receives  little  or  nothing  for  his  labor  and  the  use 
of  his  land.  Here  the  market  is  ready  and  ample,  and  only 
awaits  greater  energy  on  the  part  of  those  already  here  and  the 
influx  of  intelligent  and  industrious  producers  to  supply  it.  No- 
where is  the  reward  of  agricultural  and  horticultural  enterprise  so 
great  and  so  certain. 


